Cotton Era Water-Powered Turbines
Water powered all of the textile machinery at Royal Mill. Originally, the hydro-mechanical system used water wheels to drive belt driven shafts and pulleys.
At the turn of the 20th century, water wheels were replace with 250 hp water turbines that transformed water power into electricity. Turbine-generated electricity originally powered large motors on each floor that drove additional lineshafting. Later, each textile machine was powered by an individual motor.
As of the 2004-2008 apartment renovation, a new hydroelectric turbine was installed to power all of the common areas around Royal Mills. The turbine, though technologically brand new, is powered just like its cotton mill era predecessors using the original 1861 dam rerouting under the Royal Mill building.
